Christmas Cookies
by Princess Tyler Briefs
Summary: A series of longish drabbles/short one shots, all related to Christmas with Reggie's favorite couples. LeeHina, NejiTen. Cute and fluffiness ahead!
1. NejiTen: Gingerbread

**A/N:** What is this? It's my contribution to Reggie's (that's me) "Christmas Cookies" challenge. The goal is to write as many Christmas related stories as you can between now and Christmas. The catch? You can't take more than 20 minutes on any single story! Why? Simply because its fun, that's why. Now, enjoy.

_**NejiTen: Gingerbread**_

There was something sitting on the counter that Neji couldn't quite place. There were some shapes he recognized. A few brown, cracked squares crumbling into a heap in the middle. Trying to hold these in place was some kind of white substance. It was piled up in odd twisted piles, and dripping off the top. Rounding out this madness was a bunch of candies. Some of them chocolates, some of gumdrops. What they were doing, Neji couldn't really say. They seemed to be falling off the top of the pile, mostly.

Frowning ever so slightly, Neji glanced across the table at his girlfriend. TenTen was grinning at him from on top of the counter, looking quite pleased with herself, and it was difficult getting the words out. They might hurt her feelings, but he had to know. "What is that?"

"Gingerbread." TenTen was swinging her feet, heels beating an odd rhythm against the cupboards. "I made a house with it, and brought it to show you."

"You made…a house?"

TenTen's bangs bounced excitedly as she nodded, making Neji's mouth twitch ever so slightly. "I made the house I think we should get."

He didn't really have the heart to tell her that he wasn't inclined to move in to quite that much of a fixer upper. Something with a few walls that were actually standing, at least, would be good. Instead, he wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her temple. "It's perfect."


	2. LeeHina: Ice Skating

**A/N:** This is one of those stories that just kind of flew out, believe it or not. It NEEDED to be written, it seems.

_**LeeHina: Ice Skating**_

It wasn't that things came easily to Lee, or that he was in a habit of bragging about how skilled he had become. Hinata had just learned to accept that Lee was better at most things than she was. He was faster, could hit harder, and ultimately would win any round of sparring they ever tried. That was the way of it, and she had long ago accepted this.

So the fact that she, Hyuuga Hinata, was gracefully flying along the ice while her boyfriend, Rock Lee, sat on his butt looking confused about how he got there, surprised the kunoichi more than a little.

They were out on the frozen pond just behind the Hyuuga compound. It wasn't a particularly large pond, but it was big enough for the two of them to ice skate in small circles. Or, at least, that had been the idea. Instead, it had resulted mostly in Hinata enjoying her time soaring through the falling white powder, and Lee ending up clumsily dipping and diving for a collision with the very solid pond.

Biting back a giggle, the young Hyuuga heiress slid over to him and knelt down beside the dazed looking young man. "Did your feet get away from you?"

Lee blushed slightly, rubbing his head sheepishly as he laughed. "It would seem so. Never mind, though. I intended to get down here at some point anyway."

Eyes almost as white as the snow blinked in confusion as Lee turned to be kneeling in front of her.

"This would be easier for me if you were standing." It was Lee's sheepish, almost frightened, smile more than his words that Hinata nodded to as she pulled herself up onto unsteady legs.

Perhaps even stranger than being better than Lee at something was towering over him like this. In the years since their chuunin exam Lee had grown from a gangly young man she barely knew into the man, taller than even his sensei, that she loved.

"I was going to wait for Christmas," Lee was talking very quickly, like he did when he was excited or nervous about something. "But now that I have this, I do not think I can wait anymore. It is like carrying an extra weight in my pocket, but it is training I do not think my heart could take. Do you understand?"

Hinata nodded, though she really didn't. She'd learned that asking him to repeat himself rarely did any good. Mostly, she'd learned to trust that the details she didn't understand weren't as important as the underlying message in Lee's words. That was just the way he talked, and she liked it.

"I am getting ahead of myself." This was muttered more to himself than to her, and suddenly Lee seized her hands and pulled her towards him. She stumbled a little on her skates, but years of training kept her upright. "Hinata, you are my shining star. The thing I want most in the world is for you to be happy. To see your sincere smile every day, and know that I was part of it. What I want to know, with all my pounding youthful heart, is if you could be happy with me. Always."

An easy question, really. No one had ever made the young Hyuuga feel worth something the way that Lee did. Like just now, admitting how important her happiness was to him. For the first time in her life, somebody really cared about her, valued, respected, and loved her. Just as much, as deeply, as she did him. That was worth everything to Hinata, and she would have to be a fool to give that up.

She didn't even have to think about her answer. "Of course I would."

"Then, Hyuuga Hinata, could you find it in your sweet heart to…to…" Lee fumbled around in his jacket pocket, removing a small box, "to do me the honor of becoming Mrs. Rock Lee?"

For the first time that night, Hinata found herself on the ice as her knees gave out.


	3. NejiTen: Scarf

**A/N:** Inspired by a picture by Sorceress2000 over on DA. Check out the fluff!

_**NejiTen: Scarf**_

TenTen looked down at the limp purple cloth in her hands. What had made her pick such a horrifically bright color, anyway? In the soft light of the craft store, that shade of lavender had reminded her of Neji's eyes, but under the sunlight it was more like a giant neon target in the freshly fallen snowscape around her.

"This was a bad idea from the start," the kunoichi muttered to herself, hugging the thing to her as a chill wind blew past.

What had possessed her to try knitting a scarf for her first Christmas with Neji anyway? She didn't know how to knit. She barely knew how to sew! It had just seemed like such a good idea when she had thought of it—she was low on funds, but it was their first Christmas as 'more-than-friends' and she'd wanted something special that would be as unique and beautiful as Neji himself. She'd seen the display at the craft store in her search, a wonderful little white baby dress, and thought 'I could do that'.

As it turned out, she could. But perhaps a little too well. Lee was positively swimming in the hats she'd made as practice before attempting Neji's presents. None of which actually fit him.

But this was the biggest disaster of them all. It had felt so good to make row after row of small loops without having to undo any that she just kept going. And going. And going. Now this thing that started as a scarf was really more like a blanket. Not only was it that horrible purple, but it was thicker than her own head and longer than she was tall.

Neji was going to laugh at her, and she wouldn't blame him at all. It just…it would still hurt.

"TenTen, you're early. We agreed to meet at our regular time." Even though she was expecting it, Neji's voice still startled her, and TenTen whirled to face her softly smiling boyfriend with some surprise. "You'll catch your death waiting out in this weather for me."

This was it. She didn't want to give it to him, but there was nothing else. Closing her eyes tight, TenTen bowed a little out of habit as she shoved the disaster of a gift into Neji's surprised hands. "Merry Christmas, Neji. I know its early, but I hope you can accept this humble gift with my sincere wish for your continued good health."

Wow. Could that have been any more formal? Now she looked even more like an idiot.

The expected chuckles didn't come, however. Instead, TenTen's brown eyes fluttered open in shock as she felt the soft yarn being wound around her own neck. Glancing up, she could see that Neji had already tied one end over his own shoulders, and was in the process of linking her to him with the other end of the long accessory.

He was smiling, but there was no teasing or mocking in it. Just one of Neji's rare truly happy smiles.

"Sorry." The words were little more than a whisper as her cheeks flamed a pink that had nothing to do with the cold. "I wanted to make something special…but it came out to big."

Neji kissed her forehead softly, pushing one loose bang behind her ear as he pulled back to smile at her more. "It's perfect."


	4. LeeHina: Snowflakes

**A/N: **I set the standard impossibly high for boys, you know. Girls, don't ever expect your boyfriends to be this sweet. They can every once in a while, but all the time is just unfair.

_**LeeHina: Snowflakes**_

"Lee, I can't see." Hinata was giggling, and she knew she was giggling, but she couldn't help it. This situation was so hilariously ridiculous.

Here she had been sitting quietly, reading on the porch, when suddenly she was ambushed from behind by familiar strong arms, and rough hands covering her eyes. Her boyfriend's somewhat husky voice had whispered in her ear as he nearly carried her in the direction of the house, "I have a surprise for you."

The excitement he felt was obvious in his voice, and it sent a shiver up the young Hyuuga's spine. They were in her house, where naturally nothing was secret, so it couldn't be anything they didn't want the clan elders, or her father to see. Still, if Lee was this happy about the idea, there must be something to be happy about.

Which would be a nice change. She couldn't seem to shake the feeling of being not quite right this holiday season. Partly it may have been because her twentieth birthday was soon approaching, which meant her father would finally have to decide for sure whether she was to inherit the clan headship or not. It may also have been because keeping a relationship secret in a village full of ninja, in a house of people that could see through walls, was exhausting work. That meant she couldn't be with Lee nearly as often as she liked, and six months of secrecy was starting to get to her.

To top it all off, there had been no snow this year. Without a fresh blanket of white covering the compound, it just didn't feel like Christmas. No matter how badly she wanted it to.

Even being with Lee, having him close, made her spirits lift just a little. It was impossible not to feel happy, safe, and adored with the taijutsu master around. That was part of why she loved him so much. He was contagious. Neji-niisan said like a disease, but Hinata preferred to think of him as a smile.

"We are here." Lee's hands slid down her face to her arms, holding her gently against him. And Hinata was glad for the support, as the view stole her breath away.

From the ceiling of her room hung hundreds of paper snowflakes. The walls, the floor, her bed, all littered with hundreds upon hundreds of carefully cut out, pure white snowflakes. Many glittered as they twisted on equally white thread, a fine powder of silver lazily falling toward the ground. No two snowflakes seemed a like, and she could stare at them for hours, transfixed. Her own private winter paradise.

"I know how much you wanted a white Christmas." Lee was whispering in her ear again, hot breath moving her hair to tickle her face. "I could not make it snow outside for you, but I did what I could."

That moment, it didn't matter that they were in the Hyuuga compound, where her father could walk by any moment. She didn't care who saw them. There was only one correct response to this thoughtfulness, and she had to do it.

Spinning deftly on her toes, so she could face him properly, Hinata reached up and wrapped a small hand in Lee's dark hair. Pressure brought him down to her level, so their lips were ghosting across one another's. "Thank you."

She felt Lee's smile as the yell of happiness that was bound to follow was swallowed by their kiss.


	5. NejiTen: Holiday Specials

**A/N:** Don't believe this is true? Go watch Rudolph again. I swear to you, he really does say that.

**NejiTen: Holiday Specials**

This was it. This was what he had sat through twenty minutes of self-pitying reindeer and squeaky elves for. Why, when TenTen confessed to never having seen Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer before, he'd insisted they sit down and watch it. Even though he hated it. Even though there were a million other more interesting things they could be doing on a snowy night, alone, in TenTen's apartment.

Because this was going to be great, and make up for every tedious jingle bell filled minute.

"No," the narrator's booming voice spoke for Donner as the deer on screen shook its head, "this is man's work."

Neji grinned as, just as he had predicted, TenTen jumped up from where they had been cuddling on the couch, and fell into a familiar attack stance. "What did he say? Man's work, ha! What she's too delicate to help look for her son? I think it's a deer thing, he sounds just like Shikamaru. If I was a deer, I'd sure show him delicate. And why can't the girls fly anyway, huh?"

'_Oh yes,'_ Neji thought smugly as his girlfriend continued to rant at the screen well after the scene changed. _'So worth it.'_


	6. LeeHina: Candle

**A/N: **t is a significant candle, okay? And not exactly 'Christmas'y, but it does have winter at the end so it counts.

I really wanted to use a candle tonight, because it's the first night Hanukkah. Happy Hanukkah everyone.

_**LeeHina: Candle**_

Hanabi called it an obsession and Hinata had to admit she was halfway right, if you defined an obsession as the object one's world focused around. Because, right now, Hinata's world had narrowed to a single flickering flame on a windowsill.

It was a silly little tradition. Started by a conversation she and Lee had had once, just after the war ended. They had been training, as they usually did, when Lee had mentioned he had a mission the next day.

"You will be safe, won't you?" Hinata had asked, looking up anxiously from where she was putting back on her jacket. She and Lee had become friends just after their first chuunin exam, when he had limped into her hospital room to tell her just how much he admired her courage. After all these years, the thought of losing him twisted her stomach.

"Oh, the mission does not concern me." Lee had grinned and shrugged, rubbing a hand through his sweat soaked hair and causing it to stand up slightly. "I am far more worried about coming home to my empty apartment. Do you not think that coming home to a dark house is the worst thing in the world?"

Hinata had nodded, though truly she had never experienced it. She did know, however, the relief of seeing the lights of the Hyuuga compound after being away for long, difficult weeks. It wasn't hard to imagine how lonely someone must feel, knowing there wasn't anyone waiting for their safe return.

The next day, after Lee had gone, the Hyuuga heiress had broken into his apartment—with a little help from TenTen—and put a candle on the younger Green Beast's living room windowsill. She checked on it whenever she could, and carefully monitored the time each candle had burned so she could replace it before it went out.

She didn't know why, exactly, but she couldn't let that candle go out. It became the most important thing in her mind for the week he was gone. That candle could not be allowed to go out.

Lee had never mentioned it to her, but the next time they trained together he had given her a yellow lily, a hug, and a grin. No words had really been needed.

No longer did she need TenTen's assistance to get into Lee's apartment, as she had her own key given to her by her boyfriend over a year ago. And she no longer left as soon as she saw the candle was still burning. Now she would clean, and watch the little flame dance on its wick.

His birthday had come and gone, her's was fast approaching, and still Hinata stood guard over the small flame as it's golden light struggled to illuminate the falling snow outside the window.

This candle could not go out. She wouldn't let it.


	7. NejiTen: Santa Suit

**A/N: **Slightly more mature one, but only barely. Hope you all enjoy this one. I, personally, found it hilarious.**  
**

_**NejiTen: Santa Suits**_

When Neji finally lost control, Guy-sensei was going to have no one to blame but himself. After all, he was the one that had insisted that TenTen wear her traditional Christmas outfit to the party. Which was fine, when they were eleven and the red fur-lined dress was baggy on her. What their oh-so-perceptive teacher had failed to realize, however, was that TenTen had grown. Maybe only three inches in height, but that was all in her legs, and she'd grown in other ways too.

Namely curves. Which, Neji had to grudgingly admit, he hadn't really be aware of either until just now. Was it he to blame if TenTen usually dressed in clothing that completely hid her shape? He didn't think so. In fact, maybe TenTen could share a little of Guy's blame, for hiding it all this time so he didn't have an immunity to it.

It wasn't like he didn't usually find TenTen attractive. He did! Nobody else challenged him the same way TenTen did, with her sparkling brown eyes and cheeky smile. She always had this way of…grabbing his attention. But now, now, with that skin tight red velvet dress clinging to smooth skin, dipping down to expose just the tiniest bit of breast, the black belt showing her narrow waist, and finishing off as it spilled over shapely hips and only barely covered her below…what was he supposed to do? He couldn't stop staring. And the longer he stared, the closer his hand inched to getting just a teasing touch of exposed flesh usually kept so carefully covered.

Touching, of course, would only end badly. Because they were at the Academy, acting as Santa's helpers like they did every. Single. Year. A few of the teachers were shooting TenTen scandalized looks, and some were out and out gawking. All of them were watching him and Lee like a bunch of vultures, ready to dive in on the first one to show any speck on inappropriate behavior.

If Guy-sensei didn't get there first, of course. He kept glancing over at TenTen and shifting around, making the most uncomfortable looking Santa Claus in history. Neji could tell that he desperately wanted to throw something over her and force her to change, but couldn't. Because, one, taking off his Santa coat would reveal the pillow he had strapped to his stomach and crush the Christmas dreams of over a hundred children. Two, TenTen would win. She HAD told him that he wouldn't like it if she put on the old costume, but he had refused to budge on the issue until TenTen eventually caved. If he made her change now, it would only prove she had been right all along.

Not, of course, that it was that simple, because it was pretty clear that TenTen had won. More importantly, TenTen knew she had won, and seemed determined to force Guy-sensei into admitting it. Displaying a confidence in her body that Neji had never seen before, his female teammate was making quite a show of bending down to get the next small present from the sack they had brought with them. She would dip down at her waist, giving Iruka-sensei quite the view. For his part, the Academy teacher kept looking at her like she'd lost her mind, which was somehow comforting to the young Hyuuga.

Ebisu-san, however, who was standing next to Iruka-sensei, had to keep excusing himself. Either the man had a serious bladder infection, or he was the pervert Naruto had always claimed he was. Neji hadn't quite made up his mind yet which it was.

Far worse than any of this, in Neji's humble opinion, was the fact that TenTen had a candy cane in her mouth that she kept lazily sucking on. She would roll back from one side to the other, and occasionally take it out for a lick that would send Guy-sensei's eye twitching. She was almost certainly grounded when this was all over. Neji couldn't help seeing that as a bit of a blessing. He wasn't sure when he was going to be able to look his best friend in the face again.

"Hey, Neji!"

He was reluctant to turn, but TenTen's call had to obeyed. He started back at just how close she was, her face less than an inch from his own. However, he wasn't fast enough to avoid the candy cane that jumped from her mouth to his.

The I'm-gonna-be-in-so-much-trouble-for-this-but-I-don't-give-a-damn grin was back on TenTen's face, and the Hyuuga couldn't help gulping a bit. The kunoichi leaned forward still further, and he could feel her hot breath on his ear. "Is that a candy cane in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"

It was now inevitable. What he'd been hoping and praying and struggling to make not happen all morning was happening now, whether he liked it or not. Lee was never going to let him live this down.

Face heating up, breath coming in short gasps, Neji closed his eyes and waited. He'd be meeting the floor, in true Hyuuga fashion, in 3…2…1…

"Neji? Neji, did you just pass out? Neji!"


End file.
